00:00Thanks so much. It is about progress, Tony. That's so well said. And I'm so grateful for these fine Americans who stood here representing hundreds of millions of Americans in all their various endeavors.
00:15And this bill, the one big beautiful bill, is geared for those hardworking Americans. It is going to help all boats rise. And we are so excited to get this thing over the line. And I'll give you more updates on that.
00:24In the meantime, Tony and Paul and Sam and Sheriff Stewart, thank you again for your time this morning. Let me zoom out. We'll just talk about foreign affairs quickly, and then we'll zoom back in on the big, beautiful bill.
00:36I know the conflict in the Middle East is top of mind for everyone, and it is for us as well. Over the weekend, of course, President Trump fulfilled what was a bipartisan, longstanding national security priority by carrying out successful strikes on Iran's nuclear facilities.
00:53Everyone around the world applauded this expertly performed duty by our extraordinary unmatched military. Some of them applauded loudly and openly and some of them quietly. But everybody except the evil regime in Iran knows this was the right thing to do.
01:11It's important to remember who we're discussing here, okay? Evil is the right word. Iran is the largest state sponsor of terrorism on planet Earth. The Iranian regime has been responsible for thousands of American deaths over the years, an untold number of maimings with roadside bombs all over the Middle East.
01:29They have funded and propped up terror proxies like Hamas, Hezbollah, and the Houthis, and their stated goal is the death and destruction of America and, of course, Israel.
01:40That's why for decades presidents have talked tough on Iran. They've talked tough. President Clinton said, quote, I believe all the Western nations have an overriding interest in containing the threat posed by Iran, unquote.
01:50President Obama, he said, I have stated that Iran will never be allowed to obtain a nuclear weapon, unquote.
01:58President Biden, quote, we will not, let me say again, we will not allow Iran to acquire a nuclear weapon.
02:04But it was President Trump who did more than talk. He acted. And it was long overdue. And his decisive action led to a weakened and vulnerable Iran that gives them no other choice than to come to the table, which they refused to do in good faith before.
02:21The president secured a ceasefire between Israel and Iran, and despite of the temporary disruption this morning, we believe that will hold.
02:27Peace in the Middle East has never been closer within our grasp. And that is something that we should all embrace and applaud.
02:35And we were heartened to see even people on the other side of the aisle, right-thinking, common-sense folks, say that this was the right move.
02:43The ceasefire is fragile, but it is very real. I spoke to the president this morning right before Air Force One took off from the tarmac.
02:50He's headed over to the NATO meeting, as you all know. And we talked about his frustration with the temporary disruption and the ceasefire overnight.
02:59And he told me he had just spoken to Prime Minister Netanyahu and encouraged him not to retaliate in any heavy way.
03:06And I think that request has been heeded. I told the president that I would immediately echo the same sentiment to my counterpart over there and my good friend, Speaker Ohana in the Knesset.
03:16I did that. I believe that Israel and the United States are locked arm-in-arm on this and that that unified front and that common goal is what is going to maintain peace.
03:26So I just want to say, overall, this is America First policy in action.
03:31This is, as has been said here already this morning, the penultimate demonstration of peace through strength.
03:37This is what it means. But you've got to have a strong commander-in-chief to make sure that happens.
03:40Regarding the presidential authority, now naturally, of course, naturally, we've got some Democrats here on Capitol Hill who, they have an allergic, knee-jerk reaction to anything that President Trump does, no matter how noble and good.
03:51And they, of course, are opposed to his latest work to make Americans safer and bring peace in the Middle East, if you can imagine that.
03:59Some have even called for his impeachment over this. It's absolutely outrageous.
04:04It would be comical if it were not so serious and stupid.
04:06Let me be clear and be as clear as possible. The strikes on Iran's nuclear facilities were clearly within President Trump's Article II powers as commander-in-chief.
04:18It shouldn't even be in dispute.
04:20Allow me to put my constitutional law hat on for a moment, because that's what I used to do, because both the law and the precedent are important for everyone to understand here.
04:28This may answer a lot of questions that you might ask this morning.
04:30The framers of our Constitution never intended for the president to seek the approval of Congress every time he exercises his constitutional authority under Article II as commander-in-chief.
04:42Alexander Hamilton argued in Federalist No. 70, just for one example, that, quote,
04:47energy in the executive is a leading character in the definition of good government.
04:51It is essential to the protection of the community against foreign attacks, unquote.
04:56This is why the framers did not explicitly set restrictions on the president when it comes to using military force.
05:04They understood something very practical about our matchless legislative body here and our Constitution.
05:11The way that Congress was set up, they knew it would be a deliberative body, and they knew that process, by necessity, would take time.
05:17And in an emergent and imminent situation, time is not something we always have the luxury of.
05:22And so they wanted, in moments of danger and conflict abroad, for one single hand of authority, to have that authority, to act decisively and effectively.
05:33Now we're hearing some talk about the War Powers Resolution.
05:36What is that exactly?
05:38Congress passed that legislation in 1973 under President Richard Nixon.
05:43It bars the use of armed forces in conflict beyond 60 days without congressional authorization or a formal declaration of war.
05:51A 30-day withdrawal period follows thereafter under the statute.
05:56It also requires that the president inform Congress within 48 hours of use of military force.
06:01Obviously, President Trump did that.
06:03Obviously, in the modern era, with the 24-hour news cycle and social media, nothing goes by unnoticed.
06:08This might have made some sense in 1973, but I'm not even sure it was constitutional, and I'll tell you about that as well.
06:14Many respected constitutional experts argue that the War Powers Act is itself unconstitutional.
06:22I'm persuaded by that argument.
06:24They think it's a violation of the Article II powers of the commander-in-chief.
06:27I think that's right.
06:28If you look back at the founder's intent, you read the Federalist Papers, you read the records of the Constitutional Convention, I think that is right.
06:35And many more scholars believe the president is correct to use this executive authority in exactly the manner that he did over the weekend.
06:44I am a jealous guardian of Congress's Article I authority.
06:48We are the defenders of it here, and we take it seriously, and I always will be.
06:52But exercising the authority to declare war isn't something we've done since World War II.
06:58And everybody in this room knows since then we've had more than 125 military operations, from Korea and Vietnam to Iraq and Afghanistan.
07:07They have occurred without a declaration of war by Congress.
07:11Presidents of both parties have exercised that authority frequently.
07:16A few recent examples.
07:17President Biden ordered strikes on Iraq, Syria, and Yemen.
07:21President Obama launched an eight-month-long bombing campaign in Libya to al-Qaddafi.
07:26President Clinton initiated air patrols and airstrikes in Bosnia, and a bombing campaign in Yugoslavia.
07:33Every one of those actions were taken unilaterally and without prior authorization from Congress.
07:38The bottom line is the commander-in-chief is the president.
07:41The military reports to the president.
07:43And the person empowered to act on the nation's behalf is the president.
07:47The last few days have unfolded exactly as the law outlines.
07:51And as history has demonstrated and as the framers of the Constitution intended.
07:56I'm convinced of that.
07:58Let me change subjects and we'll zoom in back to domestic affairs and the one big, beautiful bill.
08:02I will say it's very relevant to the discussion about global affairs because one of the things, as you all know, that the big, beautiful bill will accomplish is it will support our military funding.
08:13While congressional Democrats feign concern about the safety and well-being of U.S. service members, House Republicans are working to deliver legislation that actually accomplishes that and supports them.
08:24I think it's really important that amid this global threat landscape that we point out there's never been a better time for a piece of legislation, a generational, once-in-a-generation opportunity legislation like the one big, beautiful bill.
08:38This bill funds President Trump's Golden Dome to bolster long-range missile defense capabilities.
08:44How many of you know that's kind of important right now?
08:46It accelerates the modernization of our nuclear deterrent.
08:49Couldn't have a better time for that.
08:51And it revitalizes our defense industrial base.
08:54There's a few specifics.
08:55$34 billion to expand the size and capabilities of our naval fleet to $25 billion for the Golden Dome, $21 billion to restock America's arsenal of munitions and ramp up domestic production of rare earth and critical minerals, $13 billion for nuclear deterrents, $12 billion to enhance military readiness, among many other great provisions that I won't bore you with listing.
09:16It's exciting stuff, and the one big, beautiful bill is a generational investment in American military might, and we need to get it to President Trump's desk as soon as possible.
